115 -- Alabama Shakes -- Saturday, October 6, 2012 -- Merriweather Post Pavilion -- Columbia, MD

The Virgin Mobile Festival did not get off to a good start.  The traffic in Columbia was unlike any I’ve ever seen there.  I moved half a mile in forty five minutes.  The guy with the walker in Office Space would've lapped me!  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imo3HaNt1Sc  This meant I was not able to see Ben Folds, one of my all-time favorite live performers!  Fortunately, though, things improved once I met up with Mike Erickson and Alabama Shakes took the stage…

--- My shocked first reaction to seeing Alabama Shakes’ lead singer: “It's a woman?!”  “The second: “Wait, is it Jennifer from Accounting?”  Magic's friend guessed a middle-school math teacher.  Ultimately, her non-rock lock was endearing – as were the two similarly-figured fans who mouthed every word she sang.

-- “Hollllld On” has such soul! The syllable by syllable part at the end was awesome.

--- Gotta love containers that come with water chasers.

--- HA, the guitarist has huge sideburns and what looks like a painted-on mustache.

--- Magic could've seen them for free in Richmond, but he didn't know who they were.  I had not known anyone whose dad engraved his iPod – now I’m jealous.

--- "You Ain't Alone" and "Be Mine" had great build / pacing.

--- The rare F’s in “Always Alright” and "Be Mine” added to the message – as did the crazy contrast between her growling soul voice and timid normal one.

--- My only issues were the slight lack of variation and slight lack of stage presence.  Magic made a good point, though: if this were a small, smoky bar and they were sipping Alabama whiskey, that’d put it over the top…

Grade: B+

114 – Bruce Springsteen – Friday, September 14, 2012 – Nationals Park – DC

This show will always be known as the one when I got to meet Bruce.  We did not actually say anything to each other -- perhaps, given Kevin and Paul’s connections, this will happen next time. ;)  We were, however, TWO FEET from each other, leaping and screaming for fifteen glorious seconds.  It was hard to tell who was jumping higher – him or me!  

Other memorable moments included…

--- Driving around SE for 45 minutes trying to find a parking spot, shuffling another 45 minutes trying to get into the show, and wandering for 90 (!) minutes after the show trying to find my car.  [I didn’t say these were pleasant moments – just memorable.]  

--- Hearing the unexpected guitar solo in “Prove It All Night,” the calypso vibe in “The Ties That Bind,” and the trumpet to go with the train in “Johnny 99.”

--- Seeing this atonal little kid with industrial headphones lifted on stage during an acoustic “Waitin’ on a Sunny Day.”  He couldn’t sing, but he sure could fist pump.  Bruce worried, “I think I may have scarred him for life.”  Hardly.

--- Hearing the Scottish vibe and maracas interlude in “Shackled and Drawn,” the shift from hushed acoustic to upbeat banjo in “We Are Alive,” and the vast improvements on “Land of Hope and Dreams” – so much better than the album version and Clarence’s nephew has gained such confidence.  It was also satisfying to hear “Jack of All Trades,” “Racing in the Streets,” a strong piano song I had not known very well, and the welcome return of “Darlington County,” “Dancer in the Dark,”  “This American Land,” and “BADLANDS!”          

 --- Seeing and hearing Bruce work the crowd: “This song is from before you were born – way before you were born…This is exhausting; I need to get some new life. [He starts eating a slice of pizza mid song!]…I heard there’s some pretty good baseball being played here right now.  [The crowd loudly cheers.]...[During ‘Wrecking Ball’] The arena’s filled and *Giants* played their games.  [For once, most of the crowd is saying something other than ‘Bruuuuce.’]…Can you feel the spiiiirt?  Oh, you can feel that they’re all here.  You know how I can tell?  They’re in your voices.”

--- Involuntarily clapping when I saw a guy next to me in a Heisenberg t-shirt.  He claimed he burned through Breaking Bad in two weeks since it was ‘so addictive’ [heh].

--- Involuntarily slanging during the encore: “DC Central Kitchen, what what” / “good golly I like ‘Detroit Medley.’”  Since when do I talk like that?  

--- Taking in the crowd the whole night.  The stadium panorama was incredible.  You had 40,000 people, including two of my students’ parents TC/JK, on their feet for four hours.  You had three guys pounding air drumsticks during the “Born To Run” drum solo.  You had two marines walk past me the moment “The Rising” began – the only time they came by the whole time!    

Throughout the show, Bruce asked, “WashingTON, are you done?”  Ultimately, four hours later, the answer was “yes.”  We were all done until the Verizon Center next fall.  Until then, no concert was likely to measure up to this one…     

Grade: A+

112 / 113 – Band of Horses / My Morning Jacket – Saturday, August 18, 2012 – Merriweather Post Pavilion – Columbia, MD

The school year’s about to begin, and I’ve got a limited time to relax here in North Carolina’s Outer Banks, so this has to be a ‘live’ entry.  Here are the notes from the iPhone…

BAND OF HORSES:

--- “Funeral” rocks.  Usually, when I listen to albums in preparation for shows, the songs that stick out are the ones I’ve heard before – i.e. the hits.  In this case, I had never heard a single Band of Horses song before I started the albums, so there’s no way I could known which were popular.  And yet, when I listened to “Funeral,” their biggest hit, it stood out by a mile.  Even though I was half listening to it in between reps at the gym, it made an impression.  Like Arcade Fire's Funeral album, the song was more uplifting than depressing – it built, drove, and left you in awe.  If you’re reading this review and have not heard a Band of Horses song, this is where I’d start.

--- “Great Salt Lake” has more drive than it does on the album.  “Is There A Ghost” also sounds better live – especially the ‘I could sleep; I could sleeeep’ part.  For an opening band, they are making this look easy.

--- “Long Vows” is mediocre and “No One’s Gonna Love You [More Than I Do]” is kind of drippy.  “For Annabelle” is redeemed by the fact that Ben Bidwell performs the whole song with his infant daughter in his arms.  (Don’t worry; she has ear plugs.)    

--- “The General Specific” is catchy; “Cigarettes, Wedding Bands” is intense.  Both are really good.  “Cigarettes, Wedding Bands” somehow reminds me of Get Up Kids' “Walking on a Wire.”

--- They finish with a bluesy cover of Them Two’s “Am I A Good Man?”  Awww, a dad and his elementary school son are playing air drums on their knees in the audience!  Great ending.

Grade: B +

MY MORNING JACKET:

--- Heh, psychedelic intro.  Much stronger, clearer vocal than Band of Horses.

--- “Outta My System” -- I actually know this one!  Catchy chorus, although the guitar is a bit too twinkly. Mini rock out at the end rescues it.

--- Lol at the yellow and blue cape outfit during “Aluminum Park.”  Intermittent Bingo Night sound of the keyboard is distracting.  Intermittent flying glow sticks are cool.

--- “Mageetah” is decent until the return of the polka party.  Hmm, police sirens transition into mood music, and then back to polka at the end.  Man, these guys are so hard to categorize – as is the audience.  The only thing uniting them is that they're...white.

--- “Phone Went West” is awkward calypso; “Wonderful” is mediocre except for the Radiohead ooohs at the end.

--- Lead singer Jim James finally talks.  He says “I've got that old time feeling” in a shaky preacher voice -- even though he looks like a younger member of The Grateful Dead.

--- "War Begun” / “I Will Sing Songs” is my favorite so far.  It's so chill.  The chillness allows all of the experimental elements to connect -- there are no off-putting distractions.  Whoa, even an unexpected vocal return at the end.  

--- Coming right after “War Begun,” “I’m Amazed” seems aptly named.  HA, even the plinking keyboard is starting to work.  I'm getting swept up.

--- “I Think I’m Going to Hell” has pacing, “Cobra” has spotlights, and “Holdin' Onto Black Metal” has swagger.  No wonder the crowd is so into everything.  I’ve gotta prepare more next time…

Grade: B+

110 / 111 – Motley Crue / Kiss Friday, July 20, 2012 – Jiffy Lube Live – Bristow, VA

MOTLEY CRUE:

The closest I’d been to Motley Crue before this concert was AC/DC three years ago.  Both bands can be loud, crude, and explosive; both shows were the musical equivalent of a monster truck rally.  The difference with Motley Crue, though, was that they rarely went beyond spectacle.  AC/DC combined its dumb fun with great solos (Angus Young’s seven-minute, full-body spin during “Let There Be Rock”) and great songs (“Hell’s Bells,” “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap”).  Motley Crue just screeched a bunch of bad words like they were nine years old.  During one song, they literally spelled out a bodily function on a t-shirt, in flashing lights, and in a pre-song explanation.  (It had been hard to decode the lyrics the first two ways, but by the pre-song explanation, I finally got it.)

Disappointing as the lack of music or depth was, the show was not a total loss.  I had to admit it was genuinely cool seeing Tommy Lee play the drums as he and a woman from the audience flipped upside down on this Zipper-like carnival ride.  It was also nice that the pouring rain that fell during the ride to GPS-hating Bristow immediately stopped at the start of the concert.  Since no one was drowning in rain, they could appreciate the water that was sprayed from the stage after the thunderclap in "Primal Scream.”  I would have appreciated a comma in the “Thank You Virginia” banner at the end of the show, but that’s probably too much to expect from Motley Crue…

Grade: C+  

KISS:

Other than Tommy Lee’s upside-down drumming, Kiss improved on Motley Crue in every possible way:

Style: Gene Simmons soaked up all the world’s glitter during “Detroit Rock City,” spit blood during “Bass Solo,” shot a bazooka during “Shock Me,” and flew across the stage while spinning a flaming stick during “Firehouse.”  He then accurately described all this as “bada--.”     

Substance: “Shout It Out Loud” was crazy catchy; “Love Gun,” “Black Diamond,” and “War Machine” all featured solid instrumentals.  The endless confetti and fireworks during “Rock and Roll All Nite Long” might seem like pure style, but they actually fit the message of the song.  

Amusement: Watching a nebbishy dad flip out during “Shock Me”’s guitar solo was hilarious.  Virtually everything Gene Simmons said was hilarious because of that absurd voice.  He sounded like the Queen of England…if the queen happened to be Jewish, covered in face paint, and a man.  It was especially funny when he promoted his Hell or Hallelujah album by saying “today I bought it myself on iTunes!”

I doubt I’ll be going out of my way to listen to new Kiss songs, and their shtick might become stale if I saw them a second time, but it was definitely an enjoyable show.  

Grade: B+

ENDNOTES:

1.  This was the first night of both bands’ tour.  Somehow it took me 110 concerts to attend a concert at the start of a tour.   

2.  Jiffy Lube Live is huge -- way bigger than Merriweather Post Pavilion.  That doesn’t necessarily mean better, but it is significant.

109 – Wilco – Tuesday, July 17, 2012 – Wolftrap – Vienna, VA

It’s impossible for me to not enjoy a Wilco show.  Songs like “Impossible Germany,” “Art of Almost,” “Heavy Metal Drummer,” and “A Shot in the Arm” are so inarguably great, I will never leave unhappy.  There were other aspects of this specific show I enjoyed: recognizing “War on War,” “I Might,” and “Ashes of American Flags” from the first few notes, seeing the drummer stand on his instrument during “I’m the Man Who Loves You,” and hearing them play the Kiss-referencing “Heavy Metal Drummer” three days before attending a Kiss concert.  I also appreciated the fact that they did not play “Spiders,” “Hummingbird,” OR “Jesus Etc.”  Don’t get me wrong; I love each of those songs.  Not playing them, though, keeps the audience honest, making them recognize that the band won’t just trot out the same songs each show.  It also increases their hunger for the songs next time.  

Speaking of next time, I hope Wilco does NOT do any of the following things at the next show:

--- Go on a seven-song Alienation March at the start.  A few dark, feedback-y tracks keep the audience honest and enhance the lighter ones.  Seven just make people feel depressed.

--- Play “One Sunday Morning”!  It starts off all intimate, echoey, and warm, so you think you’ll like it.  Then you sit through another eleven minutes of nothingness (including four minutes of silence!), and you definitely do not.

--- Allow Jeff Tweedy to say “I’m not going to talk your ear off tonight.  I don’t have much to say.”  Tweedy’s wit improves each show; not hearing it takes away from it!  Hope his one-liners are back full force next time.

--- Incorporate that bizarre thunderclap into “Via Chicago.”  It worked as a change of pace when I heard it at Merriweather last year, just as Foo Fighters’ extended bluesy “Monkey Wrench” worked at Verizon Center, but I would not want to hear either again.  The first time both could be considered bold experiments.  The second time they just seem like indulgent mistakes.

--- End with covers of other bands.  Concluding with “California Stars” and “Hoodoo Voodoo,” two songs I had never heard of, was disappointing.  Oh well, it will not be Woody Guthrie’s 100^th birthday next time, so I’m sure Wilco will go back to finishing strong.

Grade: B

108 -- Radiohead – Sunday, June 3, 2012 – Verizon Center – Washington, DC

There are few bands I have tried harder to get into than Radiohead.  Emily Wellikoff first got me interested in high school, Mike Schobel kept me going in college, and Matt DeCarlo / Luis Vila have kept me going since then.  Despite all this effort, however, the band never fully clicked for me.  There are songs I really enjoy on Pablo Honey, The Bends, OK Computer, Kid A, Amnesiac, Hail to the Thief, In Rainbows, and The King of Limbs, but no mind-blowing aha moment. 

Radiohead’s Verizon Center concert was much the same: a lot to like, not a lot to love.  Part of the issue was that Thom Yorke spent as much time on enunciation as he did on his wardrobe or facial hair.  The other part was that they played very few of their old songs (as Luis rightly pointed out).  Looking like a hobo and sounding like a stoner is fine if you play “Fake Plastic Trees,” “Creep,” or “Karma Police.”  Those choices might actually give you some indie cred.  If you do not play any of those songs, though, slogging through almost all of King of Limbs, you risk alienating your audience.

Fortunately, the couple of non-Limbs songs they did play were really good.  “Go to Sleep” had a solid guitar solo, “The Gloaming” / “Reckoner” had nice green-blue hues, and “Nude” had an incredible vocal.  The way Yorke caressed the ‘you’ll’ at the end was haunting – as was the inflection on ‘innocent’ in “Codex” and ‘arms’ in “Give Up the Ghost.”  Yorke may make it hard to discern most lyrics, but the few that you can hear resonate.   

The definite high point of the night was “Paranoid Android.”  Apparently I’d been living under a rock and had not known it was one of their biggest songs.  The transition from eerie to rock to eerie and back to rock was totally unexpected – and an awesome way to end the show.

Grade: B     

 

107 – Red Hot Chili Peppers – Thursday, May 10, 2012 – Verizon Center – Washington, DC

When you wait nine years for a band to a play an album, you’re bound to be disappointed – especially if they end up playing most of their mediocre new one instead.  Great as it would have been to hear them play all of Californication and none of I’m With You, it was never going to happen.  Considering this, I should recognize the good parts of the concerts – the moments that would make me try Chili Peppers again next time they come to DC:

[Note: This is effectively a live blog from the show, so it will not be smooth.]

---  “Dani California” sounds a thousand times better than the “Monarchy of Roses” opener.  Its towering cameras, lights, and expanding red sun beams are also preferable to “Monarchy”’s tribute to Pier One.  Nice drum interlude into “She's your priestess; I'm your priesttt.  Simultaneous releasssse.” 

--- “Thank you -- let's hang out for a while.”  Yay, they speak!  They just said “good to see our President finally said something sane about gay people”…to thunderous applause.

 
--- “Ethiopia” is surprisingly cool.  They also say, “Is anyone here from Sudan tonight?”  Lol.

--- “The Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie” has a great opening beat and good instrumental ending – and not much in between.  Not the strongest album.

--- “Other Side”!!!  The crowd SOARS.  The guitar / vibe / spoken words are amazing too.  I'd forgotten “Other Side”’s power.

--- How have I never heard “Higher Ground”?  The lyrics are great: “Teachers keep on teachin’ / Preachers keep on preachin’ / We're gonna be a sailin' on the funky sound / Nobody's gonna bring me down / Till I reach the higher ground.”

--- “Under The Bridge” is awesome.  The creepy female body scan on the screens during it...not so much.   

--- “Californication”!  Way better on the album though.  A thousand pill bottles surrounded by a pill sun is not exactly subtle.  Um, a ssssstrong smell just wafted around me.  A cylindrical paper was just passed across me.  Awkward… 

--- “By The Way”!!  It contrasts really well with “Californication.”   Interesting subbing of a thamping horn for the steak knife parts.  Still prefer the album version.

--- HA, the crowd flips out during “Around The World.”  Such a flashback to my bike route during student teaching.  Flea just did a handstand after his drum marathon – nice.

--- Why are random fans' adult yearbook photos on the screen during “Give It Away”?

--- Wow, he just threw a drumstick into the mezzanine.  "You guys’ve been great; support live music!"  Amen to that.

Grade: B